EAST FARNHAM, QUEBEC (June 29, 1:35 p.m. ET) — Quebec-based rotational molder Rotoplast Inc. said it has improved energy efficiency and boosted capacity in a C$3.6 million (US$3.5 million), yearlong program.
“We optimized our equipment and revamped for more output,” said Mathieu Arsenault, director of research and development/ business development, in a telephone interview.
Among its projects were increasing insulation, changing burners and thermocouples and redesigning ovens, he said.
Rotoplast runs four rotomolding lines, the largest being a 16-foot-by-6-foot machine. It molds polyethylene, nylon, polypropylene and PVC. Main markets are transportation, sports, trash bins, boat-dock components, fuel tanks, kayaks and hydroelectric dam floats.
The firm doubled the size of its East Farnham, Quebec, facility to 40,000 square feet and moved its former St.-Alphonse-de-Granby, Quebec, operation there.
“With this consolidation, we are now in a position to offer our current clients an increased production capacity,” Arsenault said.
The privately held firm also bought out an undisclosed venture capital partner in the expansion effort.
“Rotoplast is a fine example of the Quebec [medium- and small-business] tradition, which has confidently taken the gamble to invest in its home region and consolidate its job base and, at the same time, participate actively in the economy of its local community,” Rotoplast President Alain Boissonneault said in a news release.
Rotoplast, founded 18 years ago, employs 40 at East Farnham. Arsenault declined to provide sales figures. Most of the firm’s customers are located in the provinces of Quebec and Ontario. It claims it has not lost a customer to a competitor in six years.
